India, US sign MoU to co-operate on workers' rights

Washington, Feb 3 (PTI) India and the United States have signed a memorandum of understanding to co-operate on labour and employment issues. Signed here on Thrusday by US Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and India's Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, the MoU establishes a framework for conducting dialogue and cooperative activities between the US and India on labour and employment issues. "Our governments share a firm commitment to workers and their rights. Today marks the launch of a new program to share valuable information that will ensure that workers' rights are respected," Solis said in her remarks on the occasion. The memorandum will enable the Labor Department, as well as other US officials and experts, to begin dialogue on matters of mutual interest, including skills development, youth employment, mine safety and health, and occupation safety and health issues, with their counterparts in India. Kharge said the road map laid down in the MoU will facilitate very close cooperation and interaction between the two countries and bring about improvements in the life of workers and their working conditions. India looks forward for a possible tie-up for training and information exchange in areas of underground and open cast mining, disaster control and emergency management, statistical analysis and development of data bank, he said. India also looks forward to work together with the US for furthering its knowledge in the area of occupational diseases, toxicology and occupational medicine. PTI